


Here you can stay

by Aemeth



Category: Mr. Robot (TV)
Genre: F/F, Post-Canon, angsty fluff, dipierro family adopts aldersons
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-24
Updated: 2020-01-16
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:47:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,271
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21934705
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aemeth/pseuds/Aemeth
Summary: Dom wakes up in Budapest, Darlene is reunited with her brother and they both try to figure out how to go from here - together.
Relationships: Darlene Alderson/Dominique DiPierro
Comments: 35
Kudos: 162





	1. Dom

**Author's Note:**

> I tried to write the whole thing before Christmas, but turns out I'm way to busy. But this way here is chapter one as my Domlene Christmas gift to you all, what a ride Mr Robot was! Merry Christmas :)

It is a daze when Dominique is woken by a flight attendant in a plane. She is in Budapest. She slept for eight hours. She is here because she had decided she wanted to be here, with Darlene. But Darlene hadn't been there after all.

“I'm sorry Ma'am, I'm going to have to ask you to disembark.“

Dom blinks at the tired but polite man, blinks again, and then nods slowly.

She gets off the plane and mechanically looks up a hotel. She gets a taxi and hears her first Hungarian. It has more consonants in a row than she has ever heard, and she speaks Arab. Her eyes bulge a little at the huge Forint sums; inflation must be big here, it reminded her of when she was an FBI trainee and was sent to Colombia to learn Spanish and was sweating every time she had to spend a five thousand pesos bill on a box of lollipops. She passes by one beautiful ancient building after the next, there is snow on the reverend rooftops and Christmas decoration lining the Narnia-looking lanterns. It is very dark.

The woman who checks her into a good three star hotel is very beautiful, if perhaps with a little too much make-up on.

Finally, Dom sits down on french-style made bed, listening to sirens outside that sound eerily like the ones in New York. When she opens her phone and the news hit her, she breaks from her daze for the first time.

A nuclear power plant.

Near nuclear meltdown.

White Rose, dead.

Darlene. Darlene and Eliot must be behind this.

And her heart constricts painfully and she feels like that butcher knife is in her lung again and she gasps for air. She calls Darlene's number and is greeted with an automatic Hungarian voice, curses and googles the appropriate way to call an American number from Hungary, costs be damned, she had just been transferred thousands of dollars anyway.

She calls again and Darlene doesn't pick up.

“Shit! No, no, no, no, no-“

She tries again and then writes, forces herself not to think about this text.

_Darlene are you alright? I just saw the news. Please just tell me that you are alright._

Dom presses send and waits for fifteen minutes on that bed and doesn't move.

Then she calls Norm. She ignores all his questions and reprimands that she left the hospital and demands information. Norm tells her that Elliot Alderson was found in the wreckage of the power plant. The lone survivor.

“Norm, please find out where Darlene is.“

“Darlene? Why would you-“

“Just do it, Norm!,“ Dom screams into the receiver and hangs up on him, taking a shuddering breath and clutching her still healing chest wound.

She falls into a stupor of thinking: if only I had agreed to be on that plane with her sooner.

If only she be alive.

Please be alive.

She calls Darlene's phone again and then Norm's but his had the occupied ring and she hopes for his personal well being that he was better inquiring after Darlene.

Finally, her phone buzzes with a text.

She nearly falls over with relief when Darlene's name pops up on her screen and with trembling fingers she opens the message.

_I wasn't there._

_I'm in the hospital with Elliot._

Dom frantically begins to type something back when a new message comes.

_Can you come here_

Finally, Dom lets her muscles relax and she slowly and heavily sinks onto the bed. She clutches the phone to her chest for a moment and looks at the ceiling. It has stucco. She has never seen this outside of museums.

She releases a heavy breath, types in the ddd prefix and calls. Darlene picks up immediately.

“Dom“, she breathes. Nothing more. She sounds exhausted, frightened and relieved at once.

Dom's chest feels like she can breathe again.

“Darlene. What- what happened, are you...okay?“

A shaky breath on the other side.

“Elliot destroyed White Rose's machine. The plant exploded anyway, but Elliot was in this, special room, I don't know, but he hasn't woken up yet and he's injured, and these shit doctor's aren't even sure what-“

“Darlene, you weren't there? You're safe?“

She hears Darlene moving the phone.

“What? I can't hear you well, you sound – really far away.“

Dom swallows. She stands up from the bed and goes to the windows. Hastily she opens it in hopes to get a better connection and ignores the ice cold air blowing on her face.

“I'm calling from Budapest.“

Silence. She hears the tell-tale beeping sound from a hospital in the background.

Finally Darlene's voice breaks a little when she asks:

“What, you- went back?“

Dom swallows again and forces herself to answer.

“Yeah. I went back. But you were not there.“

Dom thought she could hear a brief sniff.

“Dude, you said you didn't want to fucking go.“

A laugh, brief and incredulous.

Dom can't help but smile a little.

“Well, you said you weren't going to stay.“

She can sense Darlene's sarcastic smile that doesn't reach her eyes.

“Well, fuck – I'm sure you're glad you're suspended right now. Poor FBI, I wouldn't want to be the one who has to figure this out.“

Dom's voice softens.

“Have they questioned you?“

“They sure plan on it. I think they're waiting for Elliot to wake up first, too.“

Dom leans forward into the open window and looks down onto the snow lined roof beneath her, amazed by the fluffy whiteness.

“Darlene,“she says gently. She always liked saying her name. “Elliot is going to be fine.“

More shaky sounds on the other end and Dom imagines Darlene must be nodding.

Dom clutches her phone with both hands.

“Are you okay there? Do you, uhm, do you need me to-“

“No, I mean... no. I mean you're in Budapest because of me, you might as well enjoy it.“

Dom's brow furrows and this time she nods. “I won't stay long,“ she presses out. “Just a little while, to get away from it all a bit, like you said.“

“Yeah. That sounds pretty good.“

“Yeah.“

“Dom?“

“Yes?“

“Why did you go back?“

Dom thought for a moment on what she could say, how she could mask this believably.

Then she decided that they were past that and that her heart ached too much and that even after eight hours of sleep she was still so very tired and she didn't want Darlene to think she was alone, once again, in the dark of night at her brother's bed.

“I thought you were going to be on that plane.“

She thought she would feel anxious admitting that but it just feels honest and it feels good to be honest.

There is a long silence on the other phone and then her anxiety does make an appearance. She clears her throat.

“Why, um, weren't you?“

“I don't know.“ Her voice, so often strong and scrawly, sounds quieter than Dom has ever heard it.

“I was afraid to go on my own and I – I knew that you weren't coming. I mean t least you said that. And shit, maybe I was tired anyway of running away again. And considering what just happened I would have left right back again, right?”

Dom nods again.

“Yeah. I'm sorry.“

Suddenly she hears commotion in the background and a new voice talking.

“Shit, I have to go,“ Darlene says and she hears her moving . “The doctors have come back and I think that's your friend Norm.“

“Good. He will be easy on you.“

“Why the hell would he be?“

“Because I'll tell him so.“

She pauses and runs a hand through her hair.

“Take care of yourself, Darlene. Tell me when Elliot wakes up?“

“Yeah, Yeah I will. You too. Dom?“

“Yeah?“

“Thank you.“

Dom presses her phone to her lips and wishes she could touch Darlene, wishes she could hug her like she wanted to desperately in this moment.

“Of course. Take care, Darlene.“

She disconnects the call, puts her phone away and stays at the cold window sill, staring outside into Budapest.

She couldn't regret being here. She knew it would drive her crazy being in New York and being forbidden to help in any of the unraveling of White Rose's master plan and Darlene was right; it was high time she took a break.

She thinks of her electric blue eyes, lost and determined, and she smiles.

She would see her again, She makes that decision as firmly as she ever did anything, she wants to carve it into the white snow beneath her and shout it out to herself. With a deep breath she picks up her phone and writes a strongly worded message to Norm.

Then she closes the window gently, pulls off her boots and then crawls back into the freshly made bed, snuggles into the pillow and falls asleep.


	2. Darlene

The next morning Dom wakes up and for the first time in years, she truly feels rested.

“A good night sleep,” she murmurs to herself and smiles briefly.

After some stalling and the slowest getting ready she probably had ever done, she forces herself to just walk the city without a plan. She quickly learns that art noveau is even bigger and more beautiful in Budapest than in Paris, the only other European city she had been to with the FBI. Even from walking the streets for a couple hours it is obvious the country is still rooted in old gender roles. She enters a tiny, family run looking place and asks for something local and tastes tomatoes like she never had before, fresh, rich and learns that Hungarian food is in general rich, hearty, probably too meat heavy and very, very good. After working herself through the menu with the help of the friendly and enthusiastic waiter with a half grasp on English, her next trip is into two bookstores, until she finds a Hungarian-English dictionary. She finds out that a lot of products and stores here have the moniker “By the state.” It leaves a bitter taste in her mouth.

Her first Kürtőskalács, coated in sugar and cinnamon, served to her by a darling old woman working in a street booth, drives it away, together with her smile that sets a pang through her heart; it reminds her of her mother.

As she walks along, alternating between taking huge bites of her Kürtőskalács and reading through her dictionary, she suddenly finds herself in front of a secondhand electronic store. She steps closer and looks at the computers in the window dressing; some of them look like they could be from the early 2000nds, the 90ies even.

She remembers when she had first started her investigation of fsociety and saw a computer like that in a picture.

***

_One year ago_

“Dom!”

Two hands push apart the huge piles of files in front of Dom on her desk and her partner Norm appeared, his eyes bloodshot and with deep shadows underneath, like her own, only that he did not use concealer like she did. Or showered much, for that matter.

She spares him a quick glance before continuing to read the file before her.

“I told you I need two more hours-”

“In your creepy research mode, I know, I know, but you said unless I had something on DoloresH4ze!”

Dom crunches the lollipop in her mouth as her head shoots up, her eyes sharp.

“What do you got?”

Norm proudly hands her a freshly printed page.

Dom snaps it from him and then becomes very still.

A woman in her early twenties stares up at her – two large electric blue eyes clouded in dark smudgy make-up, set over a thin long and slightly to the right turned nose and large, full lips. Her hair was a wild brown mane, framing her face darkly, bringing out the paleness of her skin.

Dom can't stop looking into the printed eyes, the still drying ink shimmering, almost making them look alive. She twirls the broken lollipop in her mouth and cuts her tongue.

“Darlene Alderson,” Dom whispers.

“We found activity from her, I mean DoloresH4ze on some of the IP addresses Cisco uses. One of our guys who frequents the Hacker partys in Queens heard that she likes to hack into Pizza hut, putting the tab on banker guys. Checked for orders in that area and found a match with a Cisco IP, using the name Darrel.

Checked user history and found one payment that was canceled. Reorder by the same IP address was made by Miss Alderson here.” When he says her name, Norm pointedly tapps her finger right into Darlene Alderson's printed face and Dom quickly moves the paper away from him in irritation.

Despite the cut in her tongue she continues to twirl her lollipop around in her mouth.

She had looked up Elliot Alderson's family once they had him in connection with fsociety, but since she had found no evidence for a close relationship or any relevant date up until then, nor a location, she had quickly discarded the younger sister from her casework. Up until now she hadn't even seen a picture.

“Jesus, how old is she?” she says, more to herself.

Norm looks at her funnily.

“Um, it says right there. Twenty-two or something, I think.”

Embarrassed, Dom tears her eyes away from the picture, and lets her eyes scan down the scarce information beneath it. A birthplace and date. Fifth November, 1990. She was only twenty-five.

“We don't have much on her. Right now I'm trying to find any CV or address. She is registered in Jersey, still. We have no other visual but that old MySpace picture-”

Just then Dom skips over a file entry for underage drinking and she turns the page to find another picture of an even younger Darlene Alderson. Dom had to smile.

Darlene was pictured sitting on an old 90ies computer, her hair a wild mess quickly squished together with a band on top of her head. Her eyes spotted the same smudgy dark make-up, she wore a ratty gray band T-shirt, a cigarette dangled between her lips and the middle finger of her right hand was held up in a blatant fuck you.

She looked every bit the High-school delinquent, but – Dom quickly scanned her High school diploma data on the last page – some of her grades and the green code visible on the ancient computer spoke otherwise. No, she had an inkling that Darlene Alderson was just as bright as her brother.

She tore off the stapler clip and rested the two pages next to each other carefully, the two Darlenes staring up at her in almost joyful defiance. Jesus, she probably really needed to go to bed

“Go get some sleep, Norm,” she told her partner without looking at him. “Thanks. I'll get on her.”

***

_Present_

The first thing Elliot decides to do, after he is discharged from the hospital, after many, many talks both with Darlene, his psychologist Krista and multiple FBI people, is to buy an apartment.

“It makes sense Darlene – prices are skyrocketing already and Krista said it's a good start.”

If someone had told Darlene a year ago that she would find herself now with her brother, apartment hunting, while there was an obvious FBI car waiting on them at every stop, she would have been laughing into their face.

But here she is. A cheery lady in a flowery blouse telling Elliot and her about parquet floors, water pressure and nice shops around, both of them in dark clothes, feeling as alien to her and as belonging together as when they were children.

Elliot asks the lady about WiFi interference in the building and Darlene has to laugh, throwing her brother an affectionate glance.

The lady stutters, Elliot apologizes and tries to explain. Poorly regarding the lady, but he tries.

The Elliot she had seen the past two years would not have apologized. He would have been irritated. Both him and the present Elliot were awkward.

Darlene is still getting used to having her brother around. He remembers most of what had happened since fsociety. Some of it crystal clear, other stuff like it was a distant dream.

He cried more in her presence than ever before and if she was honest, she had probably, too.

Dom had made good on her promise – an almost shy Norm had told her quietly that the higher ups really didn't now what to do with them – on the one hand there was strong circumstantial evidence they were involved in the wealth distribution from the one percent to the poorer citizens of the United States and on the other hand they showcased several deep corruption cases, dissolved the dark army and Elliot had prevented a nuclear meltdown,w which was considered a heroic, patriotic act.

He assured her that questioning would be limited in the early stages of Elliot's recover and that technically her diplomatic immunity had never been revoked and that she had fulfilled her deal and that her past charges – _technically_ – had to be dropped.

Darlene had taken a big drag from her cigarette.

“How about you tell me what the fuck I'm _technically_ allowed to now?” she told him dryly. “Can I walk about? Can I leave the country? Can I get a job?”

“ _You_ want to get a job?”

“I asked if I could. Didn't say that I will.”

“Well, um, you can't leave the country currently, obviously. I would advise not to leave New York city. You can do here whatever you like, even though I'm afraid there are still security concerns over you and Elliot, so there will be monitoring... for your safety! And I guess you could get a job, if you wanted to.. and if you can.”

Darlene tilted her head and blowed smoke into his face.

“You know you could be nicer to me. Me and my brother saved your ass from nuclear death and put more money into your account than you earn in a year.”

Norm stemmed his hands into his round hips, agitated, his strange shyness from before gone.

“Your brother did that. The nuclear part at least, technically.”

Darlene stared at him pointedly, and he looked away embarrassed.

“Well”, she stated and put out her cigarette in the cheap ash tray in the hospitals cafeteria.

“I still don't like you.”

“Well you better start liking me cause I'm the one fending off the higher ups for you. And just for the record I'm doing this for Dom, not you.”

At that Darlene looked up at him and they held each other's gazes for a moment.

“Have you seen her?” he asked, in earnest.

“I have,” Darlene answered, after a brief hesitation.

“And how is she? She won't let me visit her.”

“She is... good, I think. As good as she can be. Just taking a break from the FBI. I mean that's what your bosses want her to do, right?”

She said this accusingly, even though she knew it wasn't Norm's fault.

He sighed heavily. “Yeah, I know. Listen, I don't know what exactly is going on with you two. But Dom hasn't been into someone this much since I know her. She's been through a lot. A lot of it is on you. And if you're just playing her then I don't care what the hell she says, I'm going to put your ass into jail. Okay?”

Darlene could just stare at him, pressing her lips together, the old guilt welling up in her.

_You did this to me._

Still, she wouldn't get him the satisfaction.

She opened her mouth.

“Don't even start,” Norm said. “Like it wasn't obvious.”

He turned away, then stopped and turned around again, almost grudgingly.

“For what it's worth I think you guys did a good thing this time.”

With that he left Darlene staring after him. A bad hospital coffee and twenty minutes later she was ready to admit that for the first time she saw a little how he got to be Dom's partner.

With things stirring about in her stomach, and she would never call them butterflies, she picked up her phone and opened her chat with said fiery haired agent.

_Elliot is awake. He's getting well, physically, but we have to figure a lot of stuff out together._

_Norm says he will hold the FBI of our backs for now. How is Budapest?_

As soon as she pressed send she worried it was too cold, to impersonal. But what the heck. She didn't know how to do this, didn't even know what Dom and her _were_ to each other now. Or why it seemed so obvious to so many people that they were _something_.

But she knew that as soon as the agent had called her, had asked her if she was okay in her worried but warm and secure voice, had been the first time she felt she could breathe deeply since she had sat down at Elliot's bedside, sitting alone in the dark room. No one else had called her. As usually no one cared, and she had no one she could call. She had wanted to call Dom herself. But she couldn't, not after Dom had left at that gate, after saying she would come with her. Even while she understood in part, it didn't change how betrayed she felt.

But then a text had lit up her phone and it had been Dom, wanting to know if she was okay. And Darlene had started crying. And screw pride she needed to have someone with her and Dom still cared and so she had puled all her courage up and asked Dom if she could come to the hospital and then Dom had called from Budapest.

She had wanted to be with her after all.

And no matter the bullshit luck the universe had thrown the both of them again, that's all that counted for Darlene now, in the cold sterile room with her brother who had yet to wake up, and she held onto it with dear life.

***

Dom answers her text almost immediately.

  
_Hey Darlene. I'm glad Elliot is awake and getting better. I guess we all need time to process. How are you? Budapest is very beautiful and very cold. I'm eating a lot of good food. Their political situation sucks, however. But most of the people I meet are very nice. How are you?_

Darlene had to smile. Leave it to Dom to immediately check out the politics of a county she was visiting.

_Don't investigate the local corruption, you're supposed to be on a break. I'm good, I'm mostly helping Elliot. I'm glad the food is good. What did you eat last?_

_Túrógombóc_

_The fucks that?_

_Sort of a dumpling, but much more delicious with white cheese and a lot of other stuff. It's very good._

Darlene tried to picture it, hesitated before she slowly typed in her answer.

_Sounds good. Make it for me when you come back._

For a while there was no answer and Darlene had to resist the urge to bite her fingernails. How long had it been since she was nervous about texting someone? For other reason than the stake of a nationwide hack? The phone blinked with another text, which she immediately opened.

_I can try, but I'm afraid grilled cheese sandwiches are the best I can do so far. That would be a pretty big leap._

_True, especially because you still have to learn to make them right. Who puts mayonnaise on their grilled cheese sandwiches?_

_I do. It's delicious._

_Okay, girls scout. Send a picture sometime._

_I will. Darlene don't_

There is no follow up right away and Darlene, who didn't even notice she had started to smile, frowns nervously. Then her phone blinks again.

_Sorry, I accidentally hit send to early. I wanted to say that I know that you want to take care of Elliot but don't forget yourself. You deserve a break from all that too._

Darlene stared at the message for a moment and then at her sleeping brother in bed.

She stared so long she was startled when she realized ten minutes had passed.

_He needs me now. But I will start figuring out my shit soon as he is released._

Despite her break Dom answers immediately again.

_Take your time. Take care._

Darlene has to smile again.

_You too._

And now, four weeks after their call, five weeks after she talked herself down from a panic attack in the airport, she sits on newspapers dotted with white wall paint, rewarding herself with a cigarette after painting half of Elliot's new bedroom.

As it has become her habit she reaches for her phone and opens her messages with Dom. Dangling the cigarette between her lips she scrolls through the here and there messages they had exchanged in the past months. Pictures of delicious looking food with horrifyingly complicated names, beautiful buildings from Dom. From her a picture from Elliot in something else than his black hoodie, which Dom had honored with an emoticon, which both of them rarely used.

An update on the FBI investigation. A week ago Darlene had dared to ask Dom about her chest wound, still worried the restless agent who had fled the hospital wouldn't treat it properly.

Dom had responded by telling her she had started to go to some thermal spring regularly that Budapest was apparently famous for and that it helped with the pain. To override her usual tide of guilt, Darlene had asked for pictures in the bath; Dom had sent pictures of breathtaking architecture but none of them included herself. When Darlene pointed that out Dom stated that in this day and age with all these hackers she would never send a picture of herself in a bikini. And while she has a point and Darlene is dissapointed it was also the first time they did something remotely close to flirting, and that exhilarates Darlene as much as it terrifies her.

Look at you, she thinks. Nervous about flirting. She takes heart and takes a selfie of herself with her hair up and slashes of white paint on her face and arms and sends it to Dom.

_Freshening up Elliot's new place._

It takes a while for Dom to answer and it always makes her nervous and Darlene hates it.

To distract herself she cuts her break short and starts painting the last wall.

Just when she stepped up the ladder again, Elliot comes in, himself covered in paint. Neither of them had ever done this and they probably weren't doing a very good job, but Darlene really enjoys doing it with him. Enjoys doing just things together. Finally.

“You have to start from the top, Darlene.”

“Relax, what's the difference long as it's even.”

Her phone bings with a message and she halts her brush.

She starts to climb down the ladder but then freezes, suddenly very aware of her brother staring at her.

“What's so urgent?” he asks knowingly and Jesus fuck is he teasing?

She climbs up a step again.

“Nothing, just could be Norm or someone from the FBI.”

And of course her brother steps to her phone just before the screen goes dark.

“It's from Dom” he announces unhelpfully and god, sometimes, just sometimes she misses when he had absolutely no interest in her personal life. In their many talks in the hospital he promised tearfully to make up for it and while that had made her ludicrously happy, they were both still adjusting and there were these moments.

“Oh.”

She makes a point of painting again.

“Darlene you can answer her. We'll probably have to paint over a second time anyway.”

From what Darlene has googled that was a very bad idea. Hesitatingly she lets the brush sink down and looks at the wet paint in the middle of the wall.

“Do you” Elliot starts hesitatingly. They're both not good at this.

“Has she told you when she will come back?”

“Nope,” she replies casually and strokes broadly to the top of the wall.

Elliot comes to stand awkwardly next to her ladder.

“What will you do when she comes back?”

Darlene holds onto her wobbly ladder and snaps at him.

“Jesus, I don't know Elliot, I -”

She stops herself, takes a sharp breath. This is what she wanted. She can't snap at him when he tries.

“-I don't know. I don't know what I should be doing. All I know is that I ruined her life, almost got her killed and then left her dying and I don't know how the fuck you are supposed to move past all that.”

While she says it she feels tears come to her eyes, and she closes them angrily.

“When the hell did we start crying so much?” she berates herself in something of an angry chuckle.

Elliot puts a tentative hand on her calf, the only part he can reach.

“Krista says that's okay. That it's good, even.”

“Well... she made crying people pretty much her business. I'm sorry. I know she helps you.”

She gives him a watery smile, which he returns with an effort.

She knows now that there is still a lot of stuff she doesn't know.

Krista had pulled her aside once when she visited Elliot after he woke up and Darlene, after initial suspicion, decided that she liked her. She seemed honest from the get-go, someone who didn't operate from the shadows, someone who believed in good and you could just tell, without knowing them. Like she had with Dom, when she had met her, beneath all her pain and snide defenses.

Krista, to her surprise, had asked her a favor. Not to address their father or Elliot's specific alternate personalities without him prompting it. Darlene had asked questions of course, but Krista insisted she made that promise and reluctantly she had finally given it.

The subject of his ongoing therapy was still not discussed between them.

Elliot looks down and puts his hand into the pocket of his jeans.

“Well she wanted to come to Budapest with you. So she must have moved past some of that least. And she's texting you?”

Darlene straightens on the ladder and let his words sink it. They were true, she told them herself many times. With all the insane mess that they had found themselves in, somewhere between Dom threatening to kill her and asking to be killed and Darlene giving up her brother for the lifes of Dom and her family, it had become clear that despite everything, they did care for each other. Darlene knows as much. What she doesn't know was how from all that pain and betrayal could there ever be something more? Or what more she wanted exactly, even?

“Have you told her about the knew job?”

She hadn't. It isn't a job anyway, but a one time gig. Dom's friend, who was honest to god called Jerry, apparently had been given Darlene's number as well. A friend of his was working at Doctors beyond borders and they were looking at someone to help them protect their system data in an operation in Somalia from fanatics, where they tried to protect young girls from a barbaric process of female genital mutilation and when he had explained it to her, Darlene's blood had boiled. She had agreed without hesitating, then panicked and told Elliot and he had gotten strangely emotional but told her she had to do it and that he was proud of her. It was the first time he had ever said it to her.

“No”, she says quietly. “I don't know, I wanted to tell her in person I guess.”

Elliot blinks at her. Then he leans down and holds up her phone to her.

“Answer her,” he says simply.

He pats her calf again awkwardly and shuffles off into the other room.

Darlene's heart glows with a mixture of warmth and embarrassment. At least he hadn't asked her about her sexuality, yet.

She unlocks her phone and looks at Dom's new message.

_Impressive. Care to show the results?_

Darlene throws a tentative look at the paint splashes in the middle of the wall.

_No way, not before it's finished._

_Copy that. Think it will be ready in a week?_

Darlene doubts that big time but there was no need for Dom to know that.

_Maybe, we have shiploads to do with this place. Why?_

For a moment there was no reply and Darlene wrings her fingers into the paintbrush absentmindedly, anticipation building in her stomach without her knowing why.

Then a new text.

_I booked a flight back to New York. I figured not to push my luck with the bureau. I thought maybe if you wanted we could do dinner?_

Darlene lets the brush fall to the floor, where it clatters loudly.

“Darlene?” Elliot calls from the living room.

Darlene puts her phone from her left hand into her right and gets paint all over it.

A new text flashes from Dom.

_If you're not too busy of course. I'd understand._

And Darlene can just see her worrying, pacing maybe.

A huge smile comes to her face and she closes her paint-stained fingers tightly around her phone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Funnily enough just before 4x10 aired I was in Budapest myself for the first time, visiting a Hungarian friend, so I took them not running off to Budapest together almost personally, since I could all picture it in my head so well^^ Let me know what you think!


	3. Joined

_Seven months ago_

“Why you always get the breakfast combo?”

Darlene smiles but grabs her milkshake tighter.

“What, like you eat your three meals of the day properly?” she sasses back.

Cisco holds up his hands in defeat. “Hey, I don't judge. I'm a chips for dinner kind of man.”

Then he snaps forward and steals some more of her bacon, throwing it into his mouth laughing.

Darlene rolls her eyes but smiles.

She likes that he doesn't push. She thinks. He didn't need to know that the only time she had had this kind of rich breakfast, bacon, eggs and beans, for breakfast as a child, it was when she had been kidnapped for a day. And that she still could feel the sting of her mother's hand when she had asked for it one time – the last time.

She doesn't know why she doesn't take the exit.

“Don't you sometimes do things you wanted to do as a kid? Because it still got some of the thrill in it?”

Cisco shrugs.

“I wanted to be a hacker as a kid. Look at me now, living the dream.”

Darlene smiles slowly and looks at the table.

“No, I meant little things. Like... eating food you weren't supposed to?”

Cisco finishes chewing the bacon he stole from her, staring into nothing, thinking.

“American TV?” he offers and goes for her plate again.

Darlene slabs his hand away.

“Get your own!”

“Isn't it supposed to be romantic to share food?”

The door to the diner was janked open and a stream of cold air hit Darlene.

“Not if you're eating all of it-”

“You're Cisco?” a clear and demanding voice interrupts her.

Darlene looks up and into a serious, worried face, pale as her own but framed with flaming red hair.

Grey eyes quickly flicker to her, and for a second they hold gazes; her eyes are sharp and melancholy.

Then she looks back at Cisco.

“Why?” Cisco shoots back.

The woman shakes her head.

“Listen, I know that it's you. We have to leave.”

“Says who?” Cisco fires back; the woman's face takes on a pure no-nonsense look. She reaches into her blazer and throws a badge onto the table.

Darlene realizes in that second that they are in trouble.

“I'm Agent Dipierro, FBI, and we are leaving.”

“Whoa, hold on,” Darlene interrupts. “On what grounds? We're just having dinner.”

The agent looks at her.

“Cut the bullshit. We don't have much time, maybe a couple more minutes until the Dark Army will show up here and shoot you, so we are leaving!”

Darlene drops her annoyed face and looks at Cisco, with her heart beat picking up.

“Cisco, what is she talking about?”

Cisco's face is like she has never seen it, completely blank.

“I have no idea what she is talking about.”

The agent clearly becomes agitated.

“Listen pal, I'm not joking. This is not about arresting you, but getting you to safety! You're really willing to get your girlfriend killed because you still think the Dark Army got your back?”

“What the hell are you talking about?!” Darlene interrupts, louder, and the fiery haired woman clearly looses her patience.

“I promise you this is to protect you! Now let's go-”

She grabs Darlene's arm, Darlene shrugs her off.

“Don't touch her!” Cisco shouts and leans forward.

“Francisco Shaw, I know everything about you. I know you're part of the Dark Army and the 5/9 hack and I know the Dark Army is after you right now, so we have to go!”

Darlene and Cisco exchange a glance, then he drops his poker face and frowns up at the agent.

“Who the hell are you?”

The woman looks desperate now and Darlene realizes that for some reason she believes her.

“Cisco, maybe we should-”

Then, in one fluid move the agent dives down; Darlene has one second to turn to the window, where she stares directly at a dark clothed man, holding a gun at them – then fire erupts and Darlene is yanked to the floor by powerful arms. Something hot and wet splutters over her and the gun fire doesn't stop, it doesn't stop.

“CISCO!,” she screams and tries to get up but the agent slings both of her arms around her midriff and pulls her down, covering her with her body.

“Darlene, stay on the ground!”, she screams right into her face. Her grey eyes are wide and there is blood on her face. “I'll keep you safe, but stay on the ground!”

Tears are in her eyes and the screams and sounds of splintering just won't stop. She stares into the grey eyes and grabs her arms.

“Stay down”, the agent says, and the gentleness of the voice freezes Darlene; she sinks to the floor. The woman pulls out a gun, and Darlene closes her eyes.

_Elliot..._

The warm body that covered her lifts.

A different shot cuts through the others and the others stop and after a second the body was back on her, arms cradling her head.

“Shhssh, I got you,” the woman says, while she continues to shield her. “It's alright, just stay still.”

And for a brief moment it is still. Darlene can hear nothing but the heavy breathing of the woman covering her and a few whimpers that seem far away.

Then she hears sirens. Cars.

The woman above her lifts slightly and Darlene opens her eyes, finds herself holding onto her.

The woman stops and for a brief moment her grey eyes turn warm. Darlene is shielded by a curtain of red hair and strong arms, it's all she has between her an the horrible reality lying outside and she is unwilling to let it go.

“I'll be right back Darlene, stay down,” she says gently.

And then she is gone, and Darlene is cold on the floor, glass and blood covering her and slowly, deeply afraid, she turns head to the left, where Cisco was.

***

_Present_

Darlene takes a deep drag from her cigarette, willing herself to remember, even though she doesn't want to. Even then, with blood and glass all over her, gunfire blazing around her, she had trusted Dom that she would keep her safe. And she hadn't even known her name.

Well, they both didn't do a good job of keeping each other safe. Until they did.

This was madness. She had met the woman the night her boyfriend died, had been her captive in all but in name, and had actually been insane enough to feel safe with her. Until she seduced her and became even more ludicrous in realizing in the very moment she told her she liked her that she actually did. Which then all had led to Dom being forced to join Dark Army, which then -

“Jesus,” she mumbles and throws her cigarette to the ground.

She runs a hand through her hair and closes her eyes, breathing in the icy cold February air.

“You know, they can fine you 250 dollars for littering.”

Darlene opens her eyes.

Dom stood shyly at the little corner of the Brooklyn restaurant, her hands shoved deeply into the pockets of the same blue coat she had worn when she had last seen her in the terminal. Her red hair fell luscious as ever around her face but Darlene can tell immediately that something is different. There was no furrow between Dom's brow. She looked relaxed.

“Dom,” she says finally, dumbly.

“Hey Darlene.”

Dom looks at her, and Darlene watches her eyes go tender, until her lips grow into a slow and warm smile.

Darlene steps up to her in two long strides and wraps her arms around her, pulling her as close as possible. She buries her face in her hair and her warm neck and she inhales her scent of vervain, a strangled breath escaping from her lips.

She feels how Dom hugs her back, just as tightly and infinitely gentle and for a long moment they just stay like this, wrapped around each other in the harsh light of a New York street lamp.

Finally, Dom draws away just enough so they can look at each other and she _continues_ to smile, though there are tears shimmering in her eyes.

“It's good to see you”, she says quietly and Darlene breaks into a smile as well, realizing a tear is running over her face.

“You too,” she brings out and quickly wipes her eyes. This whole crying thing was really getting out of hand.

Dom finally pulls away from her and runs a hand through her hair, not unlike Darlene did just moments before and strangely, that gives her the strength to say:

“I know this must seem warm to you after Budapest but I'm freezing my butt off, let's go.”

And she grabs a surprised Dom's arm and gently pulls her into the Restaurant the agent suggested.

Inside it is warm and cozy, the lights are dim, candles light small tables in wooden corners and on the tops stand some of these honest to god basket bottles Darlene knows from _Lady and the Tramp_.

Before she can comment on it, a chubby man with a mustache and friendly eyes comes up to them and makes an elegant hand gesture.

“ _Jó estét, hölgyeim_ , good evening ladies!” he booms warmly and Darlene raises her eyebrows.

“ _Jó estét kívánok_ ” Dom answers with a nod and both the man's and Darlene's jaws drop open.

The man looks astonished. “Magyarul beszélsz?” he asks, blinking, and Dom smiles modestly.

“Csak egy kicsit, két hónapig megtanultam,” she replies slowly. The man explodes into cheers, rapidly and loudly talking in strange consonant combinations and ushering her and Dom to a nice little corner in the restaurant where a little ceramic oven stands, oozing warmth.

There are only three other tables occupied and all of the guests look on as the man has them seated, insists they have an entre of his recommendation, lights two big candles and gets them menus before happily wobbling off.

Darlene takes of her coat, strokes back her hair and then fixates Dom, who as usual is highly uncomfortable with the stares of the people around them.

“You learned Hungarian?” she asks, incredulously. Dom looks almost embarrassed as she takes ff her own coat, revealing a nice embroidered linen blouse.

“I took an intensive class at a university while I was there,” she explains.

Darlene laughs.

“Dom, you were supposed to be on vacation!”

“I was! But you can't learn much about a place if you don't know the language. And I met some really nice people in the class. And Hungarian is actually really interesting, it has eighteen cases...”

She trails off when she sees Darlene's look.

“What?”, she asks, clearly even more embarrassed.

Darlene draws back in her chair, her cuddly cardigan slipping of her naked shoulder.

“Just how many languages do you speak?”

Dom gulps and pours herself a glass of water from the carafe.

“Uhm, three, fluently. English, obviously and Spanish and Arabic, and I learned conversational French to deal better with the guys at Interpol.”

Dom now pours her a glass of water and won't meet her eye.

“So five now, with Hungarian?”

“I wouldn't really claim I speak it really, but I suppose so?”

Darlene chuckles and stares at the nervous woman before her in wonder.

“So, you're like a language genius.”

Dom blushes, but she smiles. “I've always really liked languages. What about you, you speak any?”

Darlene shrugs. “Nope, just English. But I do know about ten programming languages, so I guess that counts for something.”  
Dom looks fascinated at that.

“That's really impressive,” she says and it sounds so genuine Darlene is taken aback. Then the agent frowns. “But I thought you speak Spanish?”

Darlene's smile dissapears.

“Why do you think that?”

Dom tenses all over and she lowers her eyes.

“I... I read your high school diploma once I found out you were DoloresH4ze. I'm sorry.”

She looks so beaten up about it and Darlene hesitates, but then she leans forward and covers Dom's hand on the table with her own. Dom looks up at her at that, her eyes darting from their joined hands to her face.

“Hey. It's fucked up how we met, you and me both know that,” Darlene says firmly. “But we're here now, okay? I just learned you were a freaking linguistic genius and you learned that I'm a coding genius. So... let's just build from that, okay?”

Dom looks at her, first in surprise and then like she is a freaking sundown or something and Darlene distinctively feels the warmth growing n her chest and in their still joined hands.

Dom smiles and nods.

“I knew you were a coding genius”, she says then, playfully, and Darlene smirks.

“Well I guess that means I'm in the lead,” she drawls and Dom laughs.

“What, it's a competition?”

“No,” Darlene decides, “But it's fun.”

She looks down at her menu and realizes they haven't even looked at it. So she opens it with her left hand, not letting go of the other woman's, which feels strong and warm beneath her own.

“So, you choose this place to impress me with your Hungarian knowledge?”

She can feel Dom's hand tighten beneath her and she strokes it soothingly.

“Is it to much?”the agent worries and Darlene just squeezes tighter.

“It's perfect.”

The Menu is in English with Hungarian titles, but still Darlene lets Dom explain it to her, asks her about her favorites and recommendations. Dom talks about the one she knows, and ponders about the ones she doesn't and in the end Darlene is perfectly happy to let Dom choose their food while she chooses the drinks.

The happy waiter, clearly impressed with Dom, brings them their free entre, which is delicious and latest with the main course Darlene decides Dom really was on to something when she said that Hungarian food rocks.

And they talk. Dom tells her about Budapest, about the people she met in her class and in the streets, gives passionate commentary on the political situation there, that makes Darlene tease her to no end. Dom talks about the Budapest statue of liberty which has wings and looks like she is about to fly into the sky and Darlene really likes that. After gentle and cautious questioning from Dom it is her turn to open up about her new relationship with Elliot, his mental illness and their family back story. Darlene doesn't think she has ever really told anyone about that and now that she does she can't really stop. Dom listens with infinite patience, a crease between her eyes and sometimes with rage in them. At some point Darlene realizes it is on her behalf and it touches her in places that have been cold and hardened by the uncaring world since she was a child. Then it is Dom that reaches for her hand and it makes her dizzy with happiness.

Dom talks about her brothers, how they were much harder about her coming out than her mother and that their relationship is complicated but also about how much she clearly loves her nephews and nieces. Darlene explains that she had Spanish for 4 years but still didn't speak and releases her wrath on the public school system. Dom agrees and fondly tells her about a my space photo of her she dug up in her research and Darlene wants to scowl but has to laugh, talking about her first computer. They talk until they're the last ones in the restaurants and Dom insists on paying the bill, when the waiter, who Darlene is convinced is half in love with Dom, presents them with free desert and two shots of Hungarian liquor and takes their promises that they return. Darlene listens when him and Dom exchange some more Hungarian parting words and she decides it's a huge turn on. She had known Dom was intelligent but not this ridiculously much.

They're both slightly tipsy when they step out into the cold night and Dom calls for a taxi and when it arrives and Dom asks her where she wants to go, wringing her fingers together nervously, Darlene pulls her into the car and tells the driver Dom's address.

***

Her apartment hadn't changed of course and yet it feels strange, had so since Dom had arrived in it.

She looks to the little table where Alexa once stood and it actually fills her with relief now to see it empty. Then she looks at Darlene standing there and she thinks not for the first time that she has never seen someone more astonishing. The younger woman, who beneath all her snark and bravado had always seemed so jaded and forlorn, now looked calmer that Dom had ever seen her and still so painstakingly beautiful.

She wishes she had a sofa suddenly, somewhere cozier to offer to Darlene than her uncomfortable kitchen chairs. She doesn't even think about leading her to her bed because this is not what this is about to her and she hopes desperately that Darlene knows that, is deeply afraid that she might.

“Do you want a beer?” she asks quickly, because at least that she can do. Darlene just nods and whens he hands it to her the hacker heads straight for her bed and Dom has no choice but to follow. Darlene sits on the end, one leg drawn up and nips her beer, more silent than Dom has ever seen her.

She wears a beautiful black laced top, which is tucked into cozy grey woolen pants. Dom has always noticed that with all her grunge chic Darlene liked to be cozy and now, siting beside her, she wishes she had a faux fur blanket to wrap Darlene up in.

“Your friend Jerry offered me a gig with Doctors beyond borders” Darlene says abruptly.

Dom blinks.

“Really?”

“Yeah. In Somalia. Next month. They need someone to help them create a safe data log for the girls they took in who were - well, they...”

“They fled from genital mutilation?” Dom asks gently.

Darlene swallows visibly and nods, her big eyes flickering over to hers for a second.

“Anyway, I think I might do it. These fuckers shouldn't get away with it.” She takes a big sip from her beer and with all the many complicated and overwhelming feelings Darlene had sown in her heart, Dom feels yet another adding to the mix: deep pride.

She breaks into a huge smile and without thinking puts a hand on Darlene's leg.

“That's amazing, Darlene.”  
Darlene slumps over and looks at her hand on her leg.

“I've never been out of the states before. Especially not in a place like Somalia. What if I can't do it?”  
Dom pulls closer to her.

“I know you can do it. You pulled off two of the biggest hacks in history to help people and maybe it didn't always work out and I'm not saying it was alright. But I know you wanted to help and you did. You brought down the Dark Army and some of the richest and corruptest men in the world. And it was amazing. But there are other ways to help, Darlene, legally, and this is one of them. Doctors beyond borders are doing really great work.”

Darlene still doesn't look at her.

“I would be away from New York for quite a bit.”

Dom hesitates, not sure where she is going with this.

“Yes”, she agrees, helplessly.

Finally, Darlene looks at her again.

“What will you do, if the FBI clears you? Will you go on with your old job?”

Dom hesitates. Darlene asked what she had been asking herself everyday in Budapest.

“I don't know,” she answers honestly. “For sure at first. I have to stay here and patch up things with my family. They deserve that. I do still want to do what I do. I will think about other ways I could do that, maybe change divisions. But I will stay in New York first, yes.”

Darlene nods.

“So we wouldn't see each other for a long time.” It's a statement not a question, laden with possibilities and emotions that make Dom's head swirl.

She flusters.

“Well, you have one more month. And, uh, I have really a lot of time right now. We could do things together, if you want. And Somalia is not forever. And who knows, if I'm cleared then I might even be able to request to work there too, you know, as a representative-”

She's cut off when Darlene presses one hand to her face and kisses her, slowly and thoroughfully.

Whatever she had been saying it is wiped clean from her brain and Dom kisses her back and she feels full and light.

Darlene pulls her down to her bed and they kiss like they never had before. Hands stroke over fully clothed legs, Dom preppers Darlene's naked arms with gentle kisses and she feels how Darlene muzzles into her neck, breathing her in again and again.

“I missed you” she finds herself saying and Darlene emerges from her neck and looks at her with large, disbelieving and happy eyes.

And she says it back with all but words, pressing herself as close as possible to Dom's body and she has never felt this wanted in her life.

It takes a long while until Darlene unhurriedly starts to unbutton her blouse and Dom lets her gladly, but then she can feel the other woman freeze; she opens her eyes and finds Darlene staring widely at the still healing wound on her chest and the new surgical scar beneath it.

“Darlene”, she breathes gently and gathers her face in her hands, “It wasn't your fault, okay?”

Darlene's lips tremble and she shakes her head.

“You know that it was”, she presses out, her voice breaking.

Dom frowns and strokes her cheeks, shaking her head. She once had felt such deep, raging anger at Darlene. More than she had ever felt at anyone else in her life. But it dissipated when she couldn't make herself shoot her, not even for the safety of her own family. It was eclipsed by the realization that she loved this brilliant and lost woman, this woman who had brought down such evil in this world, more broadly and powerfully than the FBI had ever done. It was eclipsed even more with the guilt and pain in Darlene's eyes when she realized the consequences Dom bore for her decisions, when she cried over her broken body, trying to stop the blood rapidly flowing from her chest, willing to be arrested and let go everything she worked for just to stay with her. It became a freaking supernova when she watched Darlene scream in joy in a plaza, surrounded with the happiness of people she had brought the greatest redistribution of wealth in history too, not caring what anyone thought, expressing her joy to the sky.

“We both made a lot of choices. And it let to the Dark Army no longer existing. There was no nuclear meltdown. My family is safe, your brother is safe. And we're here. Okay? We're here. I'm here.”

And Darlene breaks down into tears that hurt Dom's soul and she burrows deeply into her embrace, her naked chest, as if she never wanted to come out again. Dom doesn't have a blanket but she wraps herself around Darlene as tightly as she can, soothing her shaking body even when she feels her own tears flow. It is messy and loud but they both need it and when the tears start to flow slower, they find a way to get even closer, their arms wrapped around each other and their foreheads pressed together.

They fall asleep like that.

Dom wakes in the morning bathed in sunlight, the gentle morning glow painting her, the woman in her arms and her apartment in a gentle yellow.

She lies on her back, her blouse open and Darlene snuggled to her side, her face resting above her naked chest and her arm thrown tightly around her.

Dom is surprised to find her eyes open and staring at her, not sleepy but alert and bright.

“You slept,” Darlene says simply.

Dom blinks her sleep away, bewildered.

“I did” she admits slowly. “I slept really well.”

The intense look on Darlene's face doesn't change and Dom begins to grow alarmed.

“Are you alright?” she ask, unsurely, suddenly feeling very exposed, even with Darlene's warm hand on her chest.

Tenderness flows into Darlene's eyes like floods and she closes them, leans forward and presses her face to Dom's, her lips fluttering over her skin.

“You're a good person,” she whispers. She says it like she wanted to say it forever, like she waited the whole morning while Dom was sleeping and Dom realizes that maybe she had.

She doesn't know what to say, is thoroughly overwhelmed and she thinks even a year in Europe, Somalia or in space couldn't have prepared her for this.

And then Darlene's touch changes and she kisses her deeply, rolling herself on top of Dom, her hands gliding over her exposed breasts and hardened stomach. Dom hadn't felt worked up when she woke up, didn't even detect a notion but she finds now that it engulfs her rapidly, this burning desire she has for Darlene and she realizes that maybe it was simply perpetual, the natural state of things that she wanted Darlene, every moment if she would have her. She kisses back in helpless desire and feels Darlene chuckle as her fingers trail over her abs in manner that makes them tremble.

“Jesus, how are you still jacked after two months of that food?”

She wants to answer but before she can Darlene's tongue pushes into her mouth and she looses the capability to put thoughts into words.

It is just as as passionate as their first night together, but so much more. There are no insecurities, no lies and no walls. Dom holds Darlene's hips as she rocks into her frantically, their breasts pressed together and Darlene refuses to stop kissing her despite both of their frantic breathing and their erratic heart beats.

Dom pushes up and matches Darlene's blazing rhythm and desire, trying to be as close to her as physically possible and she keeps her eyes open and looks and looks into Darlene's electric blue eyes, blown wide with desire, with hope and with so much affection it skyrockets the growing tension in her lower muscles, slick with sweat and want, and her legs and hips begin to shake and she comes, breathing her release into Darlene's lips, her name like a wisp of smoke around them. Darlene follows then, much louder than Dom, who hears her own name like a cry to heaven.

They stay like that, heated bodies pressed together, their chests heaving wildly until they slowly wind down and their breathing evens out.  
They both have a lot of hair and it is exploding now, a tangled voluminous brown and red mess around their close faces and Dom smiles. She finds she has no words, both of them no good with them but now it doesn't make her anxious or worrying for something to say. She feels content just wrapping her arms around Darlene gently and Darlene smiles back, closing her eyes and nuzzling into her. It's probably noon and no time to lay in bed but Dom doesn't care, doesn't care about anything right now other than the strange, wonderful woman in her arms, who looked at her with want and tenderness and holds her like she wants to stay.

Dom wants to stay here too, as long as she can, and that doesn't feel complicated or like she has to justify it anymore. Darlene humms into her neck lovingly, not quite forming words and Dom releases a soft sigh in answer, pressing her lips to Darlene's shoulder and slowly falling back to sleep, Darlene's arms and lips anchoring her in a way that she feels safe that she can.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is:) these two are killing me. A little epilloge will follow.


End file.
